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Business & Careers
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Considering self-employment? Career fields with double-digit growth
(BPT) - Americans were born to make lemonade. If you have any doubt about the resiliency of U.S. workers, consider the many reports that indicate millions of Americans are turning life’s lemon of layoffs into an opportunity to work for themselves. With unemployment rates still high, many people are looking to self-emplo...
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The beauty of upcycling
(BPT) - Everything old is new again. At least that’s a simplistic take on the tenets of upcycling, which translates to giving renewed purpose to something others send to landfills. For consumers with a passion for do-it-yourself projects, and the boards on Pinterest to prove it, upcycling has taken root. Some ideas are ...
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Small businesses accelerating growth in 2013 with cloud computing
(BPT) - Small businesses seem optimistic about increasing sales and hiring in 2013 and are looking to squeeze more productivity out of limited time, staffing and resources. For these reasons, finding the right business tools that can grow with you but also work well with the tools you already use are essential to helpi...
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The new year welcomes a new generation of inspiration
(BPT) - In 2012, the world watched as women made historic gains in everything from Congress, with an all-time high of 20 women in the U.S. Senate – to the field, where they’ve won 100 total gold medals at the Olympics. In 2013, MAKERS.com moves us to reflect on the important advances made by women in years past to in...
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Setting up a home office that fuels productivity
(BPT) - One of the biggest mistakes businesspeople make is assuming that working from home will automatically result in a higher level of productivity. Unless you carefully construct your home office environment, you may find that working from home is less productive than you anticipated. Staples, the world’s largest o...
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Where the tech jobs are: in the 'clouds'
(BPT) - The sky is the limit for cloud computing as it continues to drive job growth – garnering interest from Main Street, Wall Street, corporations and governments. A 2012 Microsoft-commissioned report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) indicated that spending on cloud services will generate nearly 14 milli...
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Keep your home safe and warm this winter
(BPT) - This is the time of year when homes need a little TLC as winter’s harsh weather can batter windows, assault rooftops and damage pipes. Luckily, there are several easy tasks to include on home maintenance checklists and most of them are no-cost and low-cost chores that could end up saving homeowners big bucks. “...
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Active duty military: 'We'd do it again'
(BPT) - If you could start over again, would you make the same decision? According to a recent survey, 78 percent of active duty military personnel say a resounding “yes.” When you think of the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform have made, especially in recent years, this overwhelming positive response may seem odd. But when you consider the dedication to duty and our nation that they exhibit, it’s not all that surprising. Yet, as war efforts draw down and the military reduces the...
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After the offer - negotiating your way to a better salary
(BPT) - Your job search has finally paid off. After all the networking events, resume re-dos and mock and real interviews, you finally got an offer for the job you wanted. So now what? Do you just take it or do you dare negotiate? “You should always negotiate a higher salary,” say Vanessa Jackson, assistant director of...
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Small businesses identify stress as top concern for employee health and wellness
(BPT) - Today’s tough economic environment would give anyone a headache. America’s workforce faces increasing pressures to meet the bottom line and achieve financial results with less, particularly small businesses. So, it’s no wonder that small-business owners’ most pressing wellness concerns include stress and employe...
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Five tips to get the best deal on the right tax software
(BPT) - Finding the right tax software can be just as important to ensuring the best possible return as making sure you have all the necessary documents and information. And when you factor in all the different tax software products available and the associated costs, finding the right program can be just as complicated...
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Let technology make this holiday season and 2013 the happiest of all
(BPT) - If you run a small business, you know that the holiday season is a busy but exciting time of year. It’s a time to reflect on the past year’s successes while considering ways to improve your processes for the coming year. As you look forward, it makes sense to take some time to consider how making a few technolog...
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national news

A special hydro-cell vehicle gets refueled at an alternative energy facility into hydrogen in Honolulu in this file photoBy Nichola Groom LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In October 2004, then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rolled up to a pioneering fueling station at Los Angeles International Airport in a hydrogen-powered metallic blue Hummer loaned to him by General Motors Corp. The "California Hydrogen Highway," Schwarzenegger's vision to ensure that every Californian would have access to a hydrogen fueling station by the end of 2010, called for the state to spend more than $50 million to help deploy up to 100 hydrogen fuel stations that would serve 2,000 fuel cell vehicles. ...


Mon May 20 00:05:50 UTC 2013

A tornado touches down southwest of Wichita, Kan. near the town of Viola on Sunday, May 19, 2013. The tornado was part of a line of storms that past through the central plains on Sunday. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying)By Chris Francescani (Reuters) - A massive storm front swept north through the central United States on Sunday, hammering the region with fist-sized hail, blinding rain and tornadoes, including a half-mile wide twister that struck near Oklahoma City. News reports said at least one person had died. By 9:30 p.m. Central Standard Time, more than two dozen tornadoes had been spotted in parts of Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and local news reports. ...


Sun May 19 22:33:16 UTC 2013

The Trenton Water Depot in TrentonBy Ernest Scheyder WATFORD CITY, North Dakota (Reuters) - In towns across North Dakota, the wellhead of the North American energy boom, the locals have taken to quoting the adage: "Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting." It's not that they lack water, like Texas and California. They are swimming in it, and it is free for the taking. Yet as the state's Bakken shale fields have grown, so has the fight over who has the right to tap into the multimillion-dollar market to supply water to the energy sector. North Dakota now accounts for over 10 percent of U.S. ...


Sun May 19 23:48:32 UTC 2013
A series of 16 violent tornadoes ransacked north Texas this week, killing six people and flattening entire neighborhoods. Seven people who were reported missing early Friday morning have now been accounted for, but the storms aren't over yet. Severe thunderstorms are expected late Friday in Alabama and Mississippi, and the Plains and the Midwest face [...]
Fri May 17 19:53:22 UTC 2013